And just like that, within a matter of days, the jury has reached a verdict in Apple vs. Samsung. The basic gist is simple: Apple's software patents are valid, and many Samsung devices infringe upon them. Apple's iPhone 3G trade dress is valid, and Samsung's Galaxy S line infringes, but other devices did not. Samsung did not infringe Apple's iPad design patent. Apple did not infringe any of Samsung's patents. Apple is awarded a little over $1 billion in damages. Competition lost today, and developers in the United States should really start to get worried - software patents got validated big time today.

Didn't jaiku happen at the same time? Unless Twitter patented micro blogging, its doubtful they have any come back. Also, you need to differentiate between form and function. An Android phone can present a similar interface to an iOS device. That's not the crux of the case. What the case proved is that Samsung went beyond that, into the realms of wilfully copying a specific design. If you need that explained, it's obvious why you had such a biased outlook on this case. I've stood in a phone store and compared Samsung and Apple phones side by side. It didn't take much effort to see how much influence Apple had had on SOME Samsung phones. I'd never claim all, but some were stupidly similar.

I say this typing on a Nexus 7. I'm no zealot. I use both iOS *AND* Android.